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Aug 10, 2015 Web Exclusive By Cody Ray Shafer

To anyone familiar with Tim & Eric and their off-the-wall brand of comedy, starting a pseudo religious self-help cult might not sound like the most logical step in their careers. Then again, to anyone really familiar with Tim & Eric, it might sound exactly like the most logical step in their careers.

Tim & Eric’s Zone Theory is the introductory work on the titular theory, a system of self-help techniques and bizarre rituals designed to elevate consciousness through seven different zones. It is more or less a psychedelic send up of Scientology, but with a few extra well-placed poop and dick jokes. The process includes severing ties with your family, nude horseplay with other men, and spending large amounts of money on Zone Theory. In fact, the authors take every opportunity to remind us that the whole thing is a money-making scheme, and rushed together to meet a publishing deadline.

If anything, Zone Theory reads like a handful of potential sketches, tied together loosely by a self-help parody theme. The cheap aesthetic is essential to the joke, and for Tim & Eric fans it is more of the same, only now in print, and to the uninitiated it is merely a bizarre series of missteps. The deconstruction of spirituality, patriarchy, and new age quackery is not nearly as biting as it could be, but Tim & Eric have rarely been known for their topical humor. Zone Theory exists for the short term gags, even if the greatest gag is its existence in the first place. (www.grandcentralpublishing.com)

Author rating: 6/10